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«eak« b? CUra B*bitebill |>nnt
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
ABOUT HARRIET. Ilhut
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About Harriet
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;' : !*
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ABOUT HARRIET
By
Clara Whitehill Hunt
With Illustration! by
Maginel Wright Enrigbt
Boston and New York
Houghton Mifflin Company
«tw ftivttiat Tfittii CambribBt
i 9 i6
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COrVHIOHT, 1916, ■
PhWsM JVavtmirr ,q
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HTJf
Grace Rogers Hunt
Do ma h, GOOgle
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Here are Seven Stories
ABOUT HARRIET
The First Story tells
What she did on Friday
The Second Story tells
What she did on Saturday
The Third Story tells
What she did on Sunday
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ABOUT HARRIET
The Fourth Story tells
What she did on Monday
The Fifth Story tells
What she did on Tuesday
The Sixth Story tells
What she did on Wednesday
The Seventh Story tells
What she did on Thursday
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What Harriet did on Friday
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ABOUT HARRIET
THIS IS THE FIRST STORV ABOUT HARRIET
IT TELLS WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
Harriet is a little girl four years
old. She lives with her Father and
Mother in a great huge city.
When Harriet opened her eyes one
Friday morning, the first thing she
thought about was her baby, who al-
ways sleeps in a wee, small crib be-
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ABOUT HARRIET
side Harriet's big crib. Harriet reached
down to the little bed and called,
" Time to wake up, Florella May."
Then she lifted dolly into her own
bed, hugged her close, and told her
the very same story that Father had
read to Harriet at bedtime last night.
Florella May listened very quietly.
She liked best of all Harriet's stories
the one about « The Three Bears."
It made her shiver when Mamma Har-
riet spoke in a great, gruff voice, like the
Big Bear's, and she wished very much
for a taste of Baby Bear's porridge.
After the story was finished, Har-
riet's Mother came and said, " Now,
little daughter, it 's almost time for
your porridge."
So Mother helped her dress, but
Harriet put on her shoes and stock-
ings all by herself. There was not
time to dress Florella May, because
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
Father was waiting for breakfast ; but
dolly seemed glad to take another nap.
When Harriet ran into the dining-
room, Father called : —
"Hullo,Miss Dusenberry! How do
you find yourself this fine day ? "
And Harriet jumped into Father's
arms and answered gayly: —
" I find myself ready to go to the
beach with you, Mr. Father Robert-
son!"
Then Father laughed, —
"Oho! What do you suppose my
big boys would think if their teacher
went ofF to play on a school day ? "
" They would think, « We '11 go to
the beach too'!" she answered quickly.
But Mother said : " Oh, we are n't
ready to go to the beach to-day. You
and I have a great deal of baking to
do first, or there would n't be lunch
enough. You know Old Ocean always
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ABOUT HARRIET
makes little girls and big Fathers want
to eat a great many sandwiches and
a great many cookies ; and our cooky
jar is almost empty."
" Shall we go to-morrow ? " asked
Harriet. " Is to-morrow Saturday ? "
" Yes," answered Mother. " But
come to breakfast now or our good
food will be quite cold."
Then Father lifted Harriet into
her high chair and tied on her bib,
and Harriet said a little "Thank you"
to God for the nice breakfast. Then
she picked up her birthday spoon and
began to eat her oatmeal.
When Harriet had eaten every bit,
she smiled happily, for down at the bot-
tom of her bowl was a picture which
she always liked to see. There was a lit-
tle Japanese garden and in the middle
of it was a tiny bridge across a wee
lake, and two funny little Japanese
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
children were leaning over the railing
of the bridge throwing crumbs to the
swans in the water. Harriet owned a
great many picture dishes, because she
had two Grandmothers and four aunt-
ies and three uncles, and many friends
who loved to give her presents ; but
ever since Mother had read the story
of " The Japanese Twins " Harriet
liked this bowl best of all.
Soon Father jumped up, kissed
Mother and Harriet good-bye, and
started off to catch his train.
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ABOUT HARRIET
Harriet ran to the window to wave
her hand and throw kisses till Father
turned the corner and she could see
him no longer.
Then the busy day began. In fact,
there was so much to do that Florella
May slept in her nightie all day long,
because her little Mother did not find
time to dress her.
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
First there were the dishes to wash
and wipe. Harriet knew how to wipe
the knives and forks and spoons till
they were so bright that she could see
her face in them. This was a great
help to Mother.
Next there were beds to make and
rooms to be put in order; and then
it was time for cooky-making. This
was the most fun of all.
Mother worked at a high table,
with a big moulding-board and a large
rolling-pin, a great bowl and wooden
spoon, and cooking dishes of large size.
Harriet stood by her own little
table and she had a little moulding-
board and a little rolling-pin, a wee
bowl and a tiny wooden spoon.
First Mother made the cooky dough,
then she put some of it into Harriet's
bowl. Harriet stirred briskly for a
long time. Then she sifted some flour
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ABOUT HARRIET
through her tiny sifter on to her
moulding-board. Then she rolled out
the dough, very thin. And then she
cut out the cookies.
First she used a crinkly-edged cut-
ter as large and round as a fifty-cent
piece.
Next she cut out a tiny heart, like
a valentine the postman had brought
her last Valentine's Day, — only the
valentine was red and the cookies
were yellow as gold.
Last of all she used the cutter that
made a lot of little baby moon cook-
ies, just like the tiny golden boat that
Harriet loved to watch as it floated
on the sky ocean at night.
Harriet was too little to attend to
baking her cookies in the great hot
oven, so Mother did that for her,
while Harriet climbed into the rock-
ing-chair in the sitting-room and
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
rocked and sang to herself, making-
believe she was in the steamboat on
the way to Maine where she and Father
and Mother lived in summer.
After a while Mother called, " Do
you want to see your cookies, dear ?
They are all out of the oven."
Harriet ran into the kitchen and
gazed with delight at her hearts and
rounds and baby moons; and, oh joy!
there in their midst was a tall, thin,
boy cooky and a short, plump, girl
cooky that Mother had made as a
surprise for her little daughter.
Harriet gave her Mother a bear
hug of thankfulness, but she did not
ask to eat anything then, because
she knew that cookies hot from the
oven are n't good for a little girl's
"tummy."
After a long, satisfied look at the
panful Harriet asked : —
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ABOUT HARRIET
« NoWy what are we going to do,
Mother dearie ? "
« I think I must next smooth out
the wrinkles in your brown linen
dress," said Mother. " That is a good
dress for the beach, and though it is
not soiled, it is a little too mussed
for the first part of the day."
" It '11 have lots and lots of wrinkles
in it the last part of the day, won't
it, Mother? " said Harriet gleefully.
"Yes, indeed!" laughed Mother.
"After a day in the sand and the
puddles it will be quite ready for Mrs.
O'Brien to take home to wash on
Monday."
While Mother ironed the linen
dress, Harriet with her own little iron
pressed the wrinkles out of Tommy
Sweet Tooth's blue jumpers. Tommy
Sweet Tooth was Harriet's boy doll.
He had been a present from Aunt
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
Grace on Harriet's last birthday. On
the same birthday Aunt Helen had
given Harriet the story of a funny
little boy doll whose namewasTommy
Sweet Tooth, so it is n't any wonder
that the birthday " truly boy " was
given the same name as the birthday
story boy.
Presently it was lunch-time, and
after lunch nap-time; and then it
was time for a walk in the sunshine.
Harriet loved to walk on the Park-
way not far from the quiet little street
on which she lived. The Parkway was
a great wide avenue, almost wide
enough for three streets. First there
was the sidewalk in front of the row
of high brick houses. Along the edge
of the sidewalk was a strip of green
grass with a row of tall trees stand-
ing with their roots in the soft grass.
Beyond the trees was a paved road-
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
way for heavy wagons and grocers'
and butchers' carts.
Then came a broad gravel walk,
bordered with grass and roofed over
with two rows of beautiful, stately
trees. Along both sides of the gravel
walk were benches; and on this bright
June afternoon the benches were filled
with mothers and nurses, while ever
so many babies were sleeping and
laughing and crowing in their pretty
carriages, and ever so many little boys
and girls were trundling hoops and
dragging little carts and pushing doll
carriages and running about merrily
in the sunshine.
Beyond the gravel walk was a wide,
wide road along which automobiles
whizzed swiftly and splendid horses
drew shining carriages on their way
to the Park at the end of the Park-
way. And again beyond the wide road
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ABOUT HARRIET
was another gravel walk and another
narrow roadway, and another side-
walk.
So it is no wonder that Harriet felt
it a long and dangerous journey to
cross the Parkway; and even though
the splendid policeman on his beauti-
ful, glossy horse was on guard to take
care of the people afoot, Harriet al-
ways clung tightly to Mother's hand
till they were safe under the trees on
the gravel.
There isn't time to tell about all
the things that Harriet saw on that
Friday afternoon. It was the first
warm, bright day after many cloudy
or rainy ones, so it seemed as if every-
body had come out to enjoy the sun-
shine.
There was the peanut man with
his shaggy pony and red cart and the
squeaky whistle that kept blowing
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
while the peanuts were roasting in the
little oven.
There was the balloon man carrying
red and yellow and green and purple
balloons on one arm, a basket of gay
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ABOUT HARRIET
paper windmills on the other arm,
while a whistle in his mouth made the
children think a canary bird must be
flying about the Parkway. Once Har-
riet had seen an automobile stop at
the curb to let a little boy buy a yel-
low balloon, which his father fastened
to the front of the car. Then the auto-
mobile whirled away with the balloon
bobbing in the wind before it.
There was the hurdy-gurdy — or
street piano, some children called it
— played by a dark-skinned Italian
whose gayly dressed wife kept time
with her tambourine and then passed
it around for pennies. Harriet always
liked to give pennies to the Italian
woman, because she smiled so brightly
and said, "Thanks, little Lady," so
politely to Harriet.
There were so many things to see
that Harriet thought the afternoon
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WHAT SHE DID ON FRIDAY
had been very short when Mother
said : —
" It is time to go home now, dear,
or Father will get there before we
do."
You may be sure that at the end
of this busy day Harriet was quite
willing to go to bed early ; only, of
course, she had to have her bedtime
story first.
This time she chose the story of
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ABOUT HARRIET
"The Elephant's Child." It was such
fun to pull Father's nose, the way
the crocodile pulled the inquisitive
little elephant's, and to hear Father
say, "Led go, you are hurtig be!"
just the way the elephant child talked
in the "Just so" story.
After the story came the good-
night prayer, then oh, so many hugs
and kisses for Father and Mother, and
in two minutes more Harriet was fast
asleep.
So that is the end of the First Story
about Harriet and what she did on
Friday.
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What Harriet did on Saturday
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II
THIS IS THE SECOND STORY ABOUT HARRIET
IT TELLS WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
The very minute her eyes opened
the next morning Harriet called: —
"Is the sun shining? Are we going
to the beach to-day ? "
And her Mother answered : —
" Yes, it is exactly the right kind
of a day for the beach."
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ABOUT HARRIET
You may be sure it did not take
Harriet long to dress on that morn-
ing. And poor Florella May got no
attention at all. She lay in her little
crib in her nightie for another long
day, but she did n't seem to mind
it a bit. As her little Mother often
remarked, Florella May had a very
nice disposition.
Harriet was so excited that she
could not eat enough of her oatmeal
to uncover the Japanese garden. She
could hardly wait for Father and
Mother to get ready to start, but it
was really only a short time before
they were closing the big front door
and walking down the street toward
the trolley car.
Father carried the suitcase which
held the lunch-boxes, the towel, Har-
riet's rompers, Father's book, and
Mother's knitting. Mother carried a
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
cloak for Harriet in case cool winds
should' blow up before the end of the
day. And Harriet held a bright red
pail and a shiny new shovel, and you
know what tbey were for !
Down at the corner they stopped
for the trolley car. Although it was so
early in the morning the very first
car that came along was almost full
of happy little boys and girls with
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ABOUT HARRIET
their mothers and aunties and their
lunches and pails and shovels. There
were n't many fathers on the car, be-
cause not all the little children were
so fortunate as Harriet in having a
Father who could play with her on
Saturdays now and then.
The motorman stopped the car,
Father helped Mother into a seat and
swung Harriet up into Mother's lap,
then he stood in the aisle because all
the seats were filled.
It was not a very pretty ride through
the city streets, but Harriet was in-
terested in everything she saw. Pres-
ently they passed the Park, and that
was lovely. It was so pleasant to look
in under the trees and see the chil-
dren at play on the soft grass.
In less than an hour they were
getting out of the car and walking
through a great high open building
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
out on to the board walk from which
they could see Old Ocean, with his
little waves dancing and winking in
the sunshine, and his big waves rum-
bling and roaring as they broke on
the sand under the board walk.
After a long, happy first look at
the water and some deep, long breaths
of its salt breezes, Father said : —
" Come, we don't want to stay
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ABOUT HARRIET
here among the merry-go-rounds and
side-shows. Let 's go over to Sunset
Beach where we can get down on the
sand and enjoy the waves close at
hand."
So they walked and walked, first
on the board walk and then on the
sand. Harriet kept her hand in Fa-
ther's because this was her first visit
to the Ocean for almost a year, and
she was a little bit afraid that the big
roaring waves might run up so high
that they would gobble her up and
take her down, down into the green
water to feed the little fishes.
After a while they came to a nice
quiet part of the beach and Father
paid a man for two easy seats with
awnings over them to shade them
from the sun. Then Mother told Har-
riet she might take off her shoes and
stockings and put on her rompers.
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
Oh, how good the soft sand felt to
little feet that had been cooped up
in shoes and stockings for most of a
year I Very soon Harriet lost all fear
of her old friend the Ocean, and was
merrily playing' " tag" with the little
waves, which every now and then
caught up with her and gave her feet
a splashing.
After she had run and jumped and
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ABOUT HARRIET
pranced and squealed, "letting off
steam," as Father called it, she ran to
her Mother and said : —
"Mother, I 'm hungry ! "
« I thought so ! " said Mother, with
a laugh. " Very well, you may have a
little lunch now to make up for the
breakfast you did not eat, but we Ml
not have our real luncheon until later."
So Harriet sat down beside her
Mother's chair and ate two thin bread-
and-butter sandwiches and one large
cooky, and then she drank some milk
out of one of the little paper cups
that Mother always kept on hand for
picnics and traveling.
After her little lunch was finished,
she took her pail and shovel down to
where the sand was damp. First she
filled the pail even full of sand and
patted down the top, very smooth,
with her shovel. Then she pressed
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
her hands into the smooth sand ; and
then she trotted up to her Father, say-
ing: —
" See, Daddy, I have two hands in
my pail and two hands on my arms."
"So I see," said Father. "You are
quite a handy young person."
Next Harriet dug a deep hole, sat
down and put her feet into it, and
then scooped the sand back into the
hole, burying her feet tightly under
the sand.
"Oh, Daddy I" she shrieked. "I've
lost my feet. The little gnomes down
in the ground are pulling them !"
"You don't say so!" said Father.
" Then I suppose you '11 have to make
those two extra hands serve in place
of feet hereafter."
"I know I Like Jocko I His back
feet are almost like hands," said Har-
riet.
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ABOUT HARRIET
Jocko was a little monkey at the
" Zoo." He was very tame and all the
children loved him. You shall hear
about him in another story.
Next Harriet decided that she would
make a house. With the edge of her
shovel she marked out a square on
the sand. This was the kitchen of her
house. Then she made a little mound
of sand against onewall of her kitchen,
cut off the top and the sides of the
mound so that they were flat in-
stead of rounding, and this was the
kitchen stove. She marked six little
circles on the top of the stove for
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
the places on which to set the cook-
ing dishes over the gas flames.
After looking with pride at her
stove, she was about to begin on a
table, when a little girl with sparkling
black eyes ran up to her and, after a
look at Harriet's work, said : —
"Hello! Are you making a house?"
"Yes," answered Harriet.
"I '11 make one next door and then
we can visit each other."
"All right," said Harriet, very much
pleased to have a playmate.
The two little girls worked busily
side by side for some minutes. By the
time Harriet had finished her kitchen,
and Marjorie — that was the new little
girl's name — had marked out a good
many rooms, but had not furnished
any of them, the little neighbors be-
gan making calls on each other. And
before long Marjorie exclaimed: —
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ABOUT HARRIET
"Oh, let's dig some wells and see
the waves come up and fill them!"
So they left their houses unfinished
and began to dig a number of deep
holes, keeping watch to run out of
the way when a wave now and then
ran up high and filled the holes.
In a short time Marjorie said: —
"My Mother brought my tin dishes
in her bag. Let 's make some pies
and cakes in them."
Marjorie scampered off and soon
came running back with her tiny doll
kitchen dishes in her hands. She gave
half of them to Harriet. In a few
minutes each little cook had made a
row of pies and cakes and cookies
which looked so good that Marjorie
exclaimed : —
"They look good enough to eat.
Let's! "
By this time Harriet was so charmed
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
with her lively new friend that she
was ready to do anything Marjorie
suggested, so those two little girls put
as much as a spoonful of damp sand
into their silly little mouths !
Then how they spluttered and
made wry faces, and Marjorie said : —
"Ugh ! It's almost as bad as medi-
cine. Oh, I'll tell you ! Play you 're
sick and I'm the doctor and I'll
come to visit you."
" W-e-11 — but don't make me
take any bad medicine," said Harriet
doubtfully.
"No; I'll just say you are run
down and need to go to the country
at once to rest."
This sounded very nice. The next
thing to do was to make a bed. This
they did by digging a long, shallow
place in the warm, dry part of the
sand. First Harriet lay down in the
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
bed, then Marjorie tried it; but it was
not big enough for Marjorie, who was
two years older than Harriet.
So Marjorie changed her mind
about being the doctor, and decided
that she would be a patient too, lying
in a hospital bed next to Harriet's.
Harriet and Marjorie had a beau-
tiful morning, and when their Mothers
called them to lunch they agreed to
play together again after they had
eaten.
Oh, what a good lunch Mother had
brought, all wrapped in waxed paper
that had kept the sandwiches so fresh.
There were lettuce sandwiches and
chicken sandwiches and egg sand-
wiches, and . little round sandwiches
made of brown bread and cream
cheese. There were olives and cookies
and oranges and pink-and-white can-
dies. There was milk to drink for
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ABOUT HARRIET
Harriet and hot coffee from the ther-
mos bottle for Father and Mother.
And they ate and ate till every crumb
was gone. And after it was all eaten
Harriet did n't seem to care about
playing !
She climbed up into Father's lap and
said : —
"Tell me a story, Daddy, please."
So Father, looking out over the
wide, wide waters, away out to where
the sky seemed to come down and rest
on the ocean, told about brave sail-
ors, and lighthouses shining out in the
dark to save ships from going to pieces
upon the rocks; and about tiny little
coral animals that build big islands ;
and about divers who go down to the
bottom of the sea for the pearls that
are hidden away in oyster shells. And
as Harriet watched the lovely sea gulls,
now flying high in the air, now floating
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
like little boats on the water, Mother
recited a poem that she had learned
when she was a little girl. It was called
"The Sea Gull," and it made Harriet
look at the gulls with new wonder to
think how fearless they were on the
stormy waves and the night-black sea.
After a time Marjorie came running
up, and Father said: —
"You must introduce me to your
new friend, Harriet."
So Harriet said, "This is Marjorie,
Daddy and Mother."
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ABOUT HARRIET
And Marjorie shook hands with
Harriet's Father and Mother, and then
Father and the little girls had a game
of romps.
Father was a galloping horse with
each little girl taking a turn as a rider
on his back. And when Father made-
believe that his drivers had worn him
out, although they teased him to play
with them longer, he galloped back to
his seat beside Mother, and tumbling
the little girls into the sand, he ex-
claimed : —
"Shoo! Shoo! You insatiable ty-
rants ! I 've got to get to work on this
book."
So Marjorie and Harriet went back
to their shovels, and they had such
a good time that they were quite
surprised when Harriet's Mother
called : —
" Come, dear, it 's time for us to get
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WHAT SHE DID ON SATURDAY
ready to go home. We don't want to
wait till the cars are crowded, as they
will be later."
Harriet was sorry to say good-bye
to Marjorie, but there was no help for
it.
Soon the little bare feet were rubbed
with the towel, the rompers came off
and the shoes and stockings went on,
the suitcase was packed, and Father,
Mother, and Harriet were walking to
the car.
Very soon after they were settled in
the car Harriet fell asleep in Father's
arms. The salt air and the play and
the no afternoon nap had made her
so sleepy that she only half-waked up
when they got to their corner.
Father carried her over his shoulder
to their home. And Mother undressed
her and laid her in her little bed and
she did not know anything about
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ABOUT HARRIET
what was happening to her, she was
so sleepy !
So that is the end of the Second
Story about Harriet and what she did
on Saturday.
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What Harriet did on Sunday
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y^S~
III
THIS IS THE THIRD STORY ABOUT HARRIET
IT TELLS WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
Although Harriet had gone to sleep
so early, she did not waken until late
the next morning. Father and Mother
had eaten their breakfast while Harriet
was still far away in Dreamland. After
a while a very bright little ray of sun-
shine ran across Harriet's face and she
opened her eyes quickly and sat up in
bed.
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ABOUT HARRIET
"Mother dear, what day is this?"
she called.
"Oh, good morning, dear," said
Mother. "This is Sunday and a very
beautiful Sunday it is, too."
" Are we going to church to-day ? "
asked Harriet.
" Yes," said her Mother ; " since you
have waked up at last. I began to think
Father would have to go alone."
Then Harriet ran to the bathroom,
where she was soon splashing in the
big white tub. And when her Mother
had rubbed her dry and when her hair
had been brushed till it shone, Harriet
said : —
" Now I 'm as clean as the children
of Grubbylea, after Clean Peter had
scrubbed them."
" Clean Peter" was another of
Harriet's picture-book friends.
Then her Mother helped put on
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
the dainty underclothes and the white
socks and ankle ties, but she did not
put on Harriet's dress. She said: —
" I think I '11 let you wear your blue
kimono until after breakfast, then
we '11 be sure not to have any spots on
the new white dress."
So Harriet ate her breakfast sitting
at the table all by herself. She was a
very hungry little girl, too, because it
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ABOUT HARRIET
was such a long time since she had
last eaten.
Beside her big, juicy orange and a
large dish of oatmeal, she ate a deli-
cious soft-boiled egg and aslice of toast,
"just the right shade of brown," she
said ; and she drank almost two cup-
fuls of milk.
« Well ! Well ! " said Father. » Some-
body has a big appetite this morning 1
If one day of ocean breezes makes our
daughter so hungry, what do you sup-
pose will happen, Little Mother, if we
spend a whole summer on the Maine
coast ? "
" I hope it will mean that we '11
bring home a little girl with more
flesh on her bones than Harriet has
now," said Mother. " She has not been
hungry enough since she had the
measles last spring."
The next thing to do was to put on
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
the new white dress. This was a very
pretty dress, because Aunt Maud, who
knew how to do all sorts of lovely
things with her ringers, had made it for
Harriet. There were tiny white roses
embroidered here and there upon it.
And when the white hat went on,
with its wreath of little pink rosebuds
matching the pink bow in her hair,
Harriet's Father and Mother thought
their little girl looked sweeter than the
June day itself.
The walk to church was very pleas-
ant. All the streets looked especially
clean and tidy. The sky above was so
blue, so blue, and a gentle breeze made
the fresh green leaves dance and sparkle
in the sunshine.
Some of the people were out in
their tiny, square front yards tending
their bits of flower beds which made
even the city streets look gay. Many
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ABOUT HARRIET
fathers and mothers and children, many
young ladies and gentlemen, all dressed
in their best, were walking along the
streets, some on their way to church,
others going to the train for a day in
the country, perhaps.
It was only a few blocks from Har-
riet's house to the church. As they
went into the door the great organ
was playing one of the lovely things
that Harriet's Mother often played on
the piano at home. So Harriet en-
joyed listening, and feeling the throb
of the organ as it almost seemed to
make the church building tremble
with its music.
Soon the minister came into the pul-
pit and all the people rose and sang,
" Praise God from Whom all blessings
flow." Harriet sang at the top of her
voice. She knew that " blessings "meant
her dear Father and Mother, her pleas-
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
ant home, her kind aunties and uncles
and grandparents, her books and toys
and days at the beach and the Park,
and all the many, many things that
made her a happy little girl. And so
she joined in thanking God for send-
ing her these blessings.
The first part of the church service
was always more interesting than the
last. There was a chance to stand for
the hymns when a little girl got tired
of sitting still. There were the pennies
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ABOUT HARRIET
to drop into the collection plate as it
was passed. The minister, too, always
preached a little sermon for the chil-
dren, and he told stories so clearly that
even little four-year-old girls liked
to listen, and so did big fathers and
mothers.
To sit still through the grown-ups'
sermon was rather tiresome and many
of the boys and girls went home after
the children's sermon. Harriet, how-
ever, stayed with her parents, because
there was no big sister to take her
home.
She did not mind the quiet time
very much, because she had a busy
little mind for making up stories, and
Mother always brought a small picture
book and paper and pencil for Harriet
to amuse herself with.
The book to-day was " Peter Rab-
bit," and what was more delightful,
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
Harriet had her Peter Rabbit hand-
kerchief with her. She knew every
word of the story, so she made-believe
read the words herself. Then she pre-
tended to show the book Peter Rab-
bit his picture on her handkerchief,
whispering to the two pictures very
softly.
After a while she drew pictures ; and
then she got tired of everything and
climbed into Father's arms, snuggling
down and resting quietly till the end
of the service.
How good it felt to be able to move
about and talk again ! Harriet had to
shake hands with a great many friends
on the way down the aisle; and when
the minister in the vestibule saw her,
he picked her up in his arms and
kissed her, while Harriet hugged him
so hard that his face got quite red with
the squeezing. He seemed to like the
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ABOUT HARRIET
hugging, though, because he and Har-
riet were special friends.
On the walk home the streets were
even fuller of people than they had
been earlier in the day. Every one
looked glad of the bright Sunday when
there was time to be out of doors and
one did not have to hurry off to a long
day's work.
As soon as they reached home, Har-
riet went to Florella May's crib and
picked up her dolly, saying, "Why, my
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
poor little daughter, did you think
Mother had forgotten you ?" .And she
tried to makeup to her neglected child
by being very loving.
She took off Florella May's nightie
and dressed her carefully, from her
hair-ribbon to her little shoes; then
she sat in her rocking-chair and rocked
her baby till Mother said that dinner
was ready.
Florella May had to have a chair at
the table next to Harriet's chair, and
Harriet gave her child many tastes of
the food from her own plate.
Dinner on Sunday was always a
simple meal, but the dessert was sure
to be a fine surprise. After the dishes
for the first course had been taken to
the kitchen, Harriet could hardly sit
still. And when Father brought in, on
a platter, a great pink mound with bits
of red showing in it, Harriet bobbed
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ABOUT HARRIET
up and down in her high chair, crying,
" Strawberry ice cream ! Oh, goody,
goody ! "
Sure enough, it was ice cream with
real strawberries crushed in it, and
Father had made itin theirown freezer
while Harriet had been asleep. Beside,
there were little cakes that came in
tin boxes from the grocery store ; and
Harriet ate very slowly so as to make
the good taste last as long as possi-
ble.
After dinner on Sundays Harriet
and her Father always played a game
that was great fun. First they took
Mother by the hand and led her into
the sitting-room. They made her sit
down in a big easy chair, and Harriet
brought a cushion for Mother's back,
while Father found the book Mother
wished to read. Then they said to
Mother: —
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
" Now you stay here and have a
nice rest. We are going to do the
dishes."
Then the play began. Harriet was
Mother in this game, and Father
was Harriet's little daughter Polly I It
was such fun to make-believe that big
tall Father was a little bit of a girl
who had to mind just what Mother
Harriet said!
First Harriet tied an apron on
Father — I mean, on "Polly." Then
she said : —
"Now, Polly, if you are a good little
girl and help me clear the table and
wash the dishes, I know where there is
something very nice that Mrs. Robert-
son made for a good child."
" Oh, I '11 be awful good," said Polly,
in a little squeaky voice, very differ-
ent from Father's big, deep, everyday
voice.
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ABOUT HARRIET
Then Polly began to work so
briskly that Mother Harriet said: —
"Take care, Polly! You '11 be drop-
ping the dishes and smashing them if
you hurry so."
Then Polly worked so slowly and
made-believe be so anxious and solemn
that Harriet giggled at Polly's funny
actions. In fact, before the work was
done and the game was over, Harriet
laughed so much she could hardly
stand.
When they went back into the sit-
ting-room she said to Mother : —
"Daddy's a very jokish man, isn't
he, Mother ? "
"Indeed he is," said Mother. "I
think he's only half-grown up, in spite
of his size, don't you ? "
Now there was a quiet hour while
Harriet played with her dolls, and
Father and Mother read their books.
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
Then there was a Sunday School hour
when Father told Harriet Bible stories,
about Joseph and his coat of many col-
ors, about Daniel in the lion's den,
about the little shepherd boy who slew
the big giant, and best of all about the
Baby in the manger on the first Christ-
mas Day.
After the stories there was music.
Mother played beautifully on the piano
and Father had a fine deep voice. Har-
riet had a pretty voice, too, so they
sang, "Watchman, tell us of the night,"
and " Now the day is over," and others
of Harriet's favorite hymns.
Then Harriet and her Father took
turns choosing what Mother was to
play for them. First Harriet chose the
" Spring Song," because it made her
think of fairies dancing on the soft
green grass of early spring. Then
Father asked for the " Funeral March,"
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ABOUT HARRIET
that reminded one of a slow, solemn
procession and a whole nation weep-
ing for the loss of one of its great men.
Then Harriet chose " To a wild rose,"
so delicate, so sweet, like the dainty
flower that grows along country roads
in June.
After the music it was supper-time.
Sunday-night supper was fun, too.
They did not set the table in the din-
ing-room. They went into the kitchen
and had a picnic supper. Sometimes
they played they were gypsies. Some-
times they were Indians. Sometimes
they were the Pilgrims just landed in
America, before there were houses to
live in. They always toasted bread
with the toasting-fork, but they made-
believe the bread was bear meat or deer
meat which Father, the hunter, had
brought home from the woods. And
the jam was wild honey which they had
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WHAT SHE DID ON SUNDAY
found stored by the bees in a hollow
tree ; and the fruit was berries picked
from bushes near their camp.
Oh, how good everything tasted
with all these make-believe names!
Soon after supper Harriet was quite
sleepy enough to go to bed. But first
she gave Father "bushels of kisses,"
because she said it would be so long
before he could be at home again all
day to do nice, jolly things for Mother
and Harriet.
And almost as soon as her head
touched her pillow the sandman came
and Harriet was sound asleep.
So this is the end of the Third Story
about Harriet and what she did on
Sunday.
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What Harriet did on Monday
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IV
THIS IS THE FOURTH STORY ABOUT HARRIET
IT TELLS WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
When Harriet woke on Monday
morning she did not see any gay little
sunbeam dancing across her crib. In-
stead, her room was darkened by tiny
streams of water which the gray rain
clouds were pouring down upon her
window panes.
Harriet hopped out of bed at once
and ran to the front window, saying
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ABOUT HARRIET
to herself, " I wonder if Dicky has on
his new raincoat and rubber boots this
morning."
Dicky was a little neighbor who
lived across the street. He had had
his fifth birthday on the very day that
Harriet was four years old. His present
had been a rainy-day suit. There were
rubber boots, a broad-brimmed rub-
ber hat, and a rubber coat. So Dicky
loved a pouring rain when he could
splash through the rivers in the gut-
ters ; and Harriet loved to watch
Dicky's fun.
This morning no Dicky was in sight.
The wet, shiny street was almost empty
except for the baker's cart across the
way. The baker's driver was just com-
ing out of the basement where he had
been leaving warm rolls for Dicky's
breakfast, and when the driver jumped
into his seat the poor wet horse started
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
up as if he were in a hurry to get home
to his dry stable.
Then Harriet hurried back to dress
and eat her breakfast in time to be at
the window when the children would
all be passing on their way to school.
It was fun to watch the umbrellas bob-
bing along with all sorts of feet walk-
ing under them. Harriet always im-
agined that she was looking down
upon lots of queer little wonderland
creatures, who had feet and legs, but
no bodies, and whose heads were um-
brellas.
After a while all the children were
in school, and all the grown people
were in their trains and trolleys or in
their offices beginning the day's work,
and the street was again deserted.
Harriet pressed her face against the
window pane hoping to see something
interesting. But it was n't an interest-
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ABOUT HARRIET
ing street. It was not at all like the
country, where one sees great shady
trees, and fields of daisies and butter-
cups; where birdies sing their lovely
songs and bushy-tailed squirrels frisk
along stone walls ; where little boys and
girls have brooks to wade and loads
of hay to ride upon and big barns to
play in. Harriet's Father had lived in
country like that when he was a boy.
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
And Harriet's Mother had lived in a
little city, not a big one. In that little
city every family had a whole house
with an upstairs and downstairs and
a yard, and the children could plant
flowers and keep chickens and rabbits
in their yards, and eat plums and
grapes and pears from their own trees
and vines.
The street down which Harriet was
gazing seemed all made of stone and
brick. There was a row of trees along
each sidewalk, but the trees were not
as high as the houses; and there were
oh! such tiny squares of grass within
the iron fences. And from one corner
of the street up to the next corner it
looked as if there were two long, long,
high brick walls, trimmed with stone,
and in each of these brick walls there
were many, many windows, and near
the ground were many doors with
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ABOUT HARRIET
short flights of steps leading down to
the sidewalks.
Behind those brick walls lived ever
so many families. Some lived on the
first floor, some on the second floor,
some on the third, and some way up
on the fourth floor. Harriet and her
Father and Mother lived on the sec-
ond floor. They called their home an
"apartment" or "flat."
Just as Harriet was turning away
from the window she heard a shrill
whistle out in the kitchen. She knew
what that meant. James, the janitor
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
down in the basement, was whistling
for the rubbish to be sent down on
the dumb waiter. Out in the country
people burn their own rubbish or
feed some of the table leavings to
the pigs or chickens. But in the city
the janitor collects the waste from
each apartment, then great carts come
along the streets and carry the stuff
away.
The dumb waiter is like a big box
with two shelves for holding things,
and it travels up to the top of the
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ABOUT HARRIET
house or down to the basement when
the janitor pulls a rope.
As Harriet's Mother was putting a
bundle of old newspapers upon the
dumb waiter, the doorbell rang and
another sort of whistle was heard down
in the hall at the street door.
" Oh, there *s the postman," said
Harriet. " May I go down to get the
letters, Mother? "
"You can't reach the mail box,
dear," said Mother. " I '11 be ready in
a minute."
Again the bell rang and the post-
man whistled again, so Mother said : —
" Run to the door, honey. Evi-
dently the postman has something
that will not go into the box."
So Harriet opened the door of the
apartment and the postman called
up: —
" Package for Miss Harriet Rob-
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
ertson. Any young lady of that name
up there ? "
And Harriet went down the stairs
as fast as her short legs would carry
her, for this was the nice funny post-
man who seemed a little like Santa
Claus, he so often brought parcels for
Harriet in his bag.
Down in the vestibule Miss Doug-
•las had just taken the letters out of
her mail box and was locking the
box with its little key. When she saw
Harriet she said : —
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ABOUT HARRIET
" Good morning, dear. Don't you
think a rainy day like this is a good
day for an afternoon tea-party ? "
" Oh, yes ! " said Harriet quickly,
her eyes shining with delight at the
thought.
"Very well. Please tell your Mother
that Auntie Douglas and Miss Sally
would be much pleased if Mrs. Rob-
ertson and Miss Robertson would
bring their sewing down to the Doug-
las plantation this afternoon."
Harriet laughed. Her Father al-
ways called the little apartment in
which Auntie Douglas lived " the
plantation " because Auntie Douglas
and Miss Sally and Linda, their black
servant, had lived on a cotton planta-
tion way down South years ago.
Now Harriet climbed upstairs hug-
ging her parcel and eager to tell
Mother of Miss Sally's invitation.
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
It was very exciting to cut the
strings and open the package. Har-
riet could not imagine what Grandma
or the aunties were sending this time.
When all the papers were taken off,
there was a new sweater, a bright red
one, with a pocket on each side, which
Grandma's dear fingers had knitted
for Harriet.
"Just the thing for Maine," said
Mother, as Harriet put on the warm,
gay , little coat. " Your old sweater
has grown quite too small. We will
give it to James's little girl."
The new sweater suggested Har-
riet's favorite play, which was " Going
to Maine." So the dining-room chairs
were placed in a row to make a train
of cars. After a while the young lady
passenger changed from the cars to
the steamboat, which was the big
rocker; next she changed to the small
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ABOUT HARRIET
steamboat, which was the little rocker;
and last of all she took a short ride
on the sailboat " Merry Wings," her
own tiny rocker; and soon she jumped
out at the little landing in front of
Uncle Jack's bungalow, and there was
Mrs. Barrows with her arms wide
open to hug Harriet and the red
sweater in a great big hug.
Harriet's plays were so real to her
that, after she had imagined herself
all the way to Maine, and then found
that she was still in the city dining-
room, with the rain beating against
the window and keeping her indoors,
she flung herself across her Mother's
lap saying dolefully : —
« Oh, Mother, I 'm so lonesome. I
wish I had a little brother to play
with me on rainy days."
" I wish you had, my darling,"
said Mother sadly ; " on rainy days
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
and sunny days and all the days, al-
ways."
Mother was thinking about the
baby boy who had gone to Heaven
before Harriet came to Father and
Mother. Harriet often looked at the
baby's laughing picture on Mother's
bureau and found it hard to think
that this baby was her older brother,
older than Dicky across the street.
She lay in Mother's arms and rocked
for a while, until Mother said: —
"I must telephone to Mr.O'Rourke,
dearie, and ask him when he is going
to send over our potatoes and string
beans for dinner."
So Harriet slipped down from her
Mother's lap and went to the book-
case. There were books everywhere
in her house, but Harriet kept most
of her favorites on the lowest shelf in
the dining-room bookcase. It did not
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ABOUT HARRIET
take her long to choose the picture
books she wanted to show once more
to Florella May.
First there was the " Dutchie Do-
ings" picture book that told all about
Jan and Mina of Holland and their
little city cousin. Next there was
" The Four and Twenty Toilers,"
that showed how the cobbler and the
shipbuilder and the farmer and the
miller and twenty other workers did
their work. Then there was the Ger-
man picture book called "Hausmiit-
terchen," whose name, Harriet knew,
meant "The Little House Mother."
Harriet took the books to the long
cushioned seat in the bay window.
Then she brought Florella May. Then
the little girl mother and her dolly
daughter lay flat on their " tummies,"
kicking their heels in the air, with
the Dutch picture book spread open
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
before them on the broad window
seat.
What fun it was to make-believe
be the little city cousin visiting Jan
and Mina on the farm I How Har-
riet enjoyed seeing the pigs and the
chickens and the cows ! How scared
she was by the old turkey gobbler,
and by the donkey that tried to kick
Jan off his back! And how surprised
she was when Jan fell off the pier and
had to be fished out of the water. She
felt as if she had been to little Hol-
land and had seen the windmills and
the canals and the dogs drawing the
milk carts and the people's clattering
wooden shoes. Some day, Father said,
they would all go to see the real Hol-
land.
And Harriet wanted to go to Eng-
land too, where "The Fourand Twenty
Toilers " lived. She liked the nice gar-
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ABOUT HARRIET
dener who gave the little boy a ride
on the pony that drew the big lawn
mower; the bird man with his shop
full of. all sorts of queer birds ; the
verger of the old stone church who
let the children climb the narrow,
crooked stairs to the top of the tower
to see him wind the great clock.
It always took a long time to look
at « The Four and Twenty Toilers,"
because Harriet had to imagine her-
self so many different people before
she finished it.
There was n't much time left for
« Hausmiitterchen " because Mother
said lunch would be ready in a very
few minutes and Harriet must get
washed and tidied up before coming
to the table. Harriet was sorry be-
cause she and her Mother often played
they were the German mother and
daughter when Harriet learned to
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
cook and wash and iron and sweep
just as the little girl did in the pictures.
After lunch Harriet had a nap.
When she woke up she and Mother
got ready to go downstairs to see
Auntie Douglas and Miss Sally.
How glad the ladies were to see
their little neighbor I Auntie Douglas
was an invalid and seldom got out
of doors. She was a very happy in-
valid, though, and all the children
loved her. She could tell the " Uncle
Remus" stories almost as well as old
Uncle Remus himself. Miss Sally, too,
knew just what little girls liked, and
so did Linda, the cook !
As soon as Harriet had pretended
to take off her rubbers and raincoat,
— you know she really had not been
out of doors at all in coming down
to Auntie Douglas's apartment, —
Miss Sally said : —
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
"What would you like to do first,
dearie ? "
« I 'd like to look at the treasure
drawer," answered Harriet promptly.
"Very well, you may," said Miss
Sally. " You are such a careful little
girl nothing is ever disturbed by your
fingers."
The treasure drawer was in a beau-
tiful old mahogany secretary. It was
filled with little boxes, and each little
box contained something interesting
to look at. There was a wee, tiny book
carved out of a bone by a sailor who
gave it to Miss Sally when she was a
little girl. There was the nest of a
trap-door spider with its wonderful
hinge working so smoothly and its
door fitting so perfectly. Miss Sally's
uncle had brought it from California
years before. There was a sandalwood
box that smelled so sweet even though
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ABOUT HARRIET
it was a long, long time since Auntie
Douglas's brother had brought it from
India. There were lovely beads from
Venice and a necklace of beautiful
tiny shells from Tasmania. There was
a little ivory elephant; and a bear
made by a wood-carver who lived away
up in the Tyrolese Mountains. Harriet
was delighted when her Aunt Helen
found her the story of "Donkey John
of the Toy Valley," because she was
sure the bear must have been carved
by one of John's neighbors, in the high
valley where everybody helped make
toys to send to little children all over
the world.
There is not time to tell you all
the good things about that visit in
Auntie Douglas's apartment. Harriet
enjoyed visiting the kitchen, too, and
helping Linda get the tea and cakes
ready. And though it was such a rainy
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WHAT SHE DID ON MONDAY
afternoon it had seemed a very short
and sunny one when Harriet and her
Mother thanked their hostesses and
said good-bye to them.
After dinner Father said, " Don't
you think it's cold and damp enough
for a fire, Mumsey dear?"
And Mother said, "Of course it is!
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ABOUT HARRIET
Anything for an excuse to have an
open fire ! "
So Father laid the paper and the
kindlings and Harriet lighted the fire
on the hearth, and when the blaze was
bright they put on more wood. Then
they all sat before the little fire and
talked about how nice it would be
when they got to Maine and had a
great roaring fire in their bungalow
fireplace, which was ever and ever so
much bigger than the tiny fireplace
in their little apartment.
And before long the fire, or some-
thing, made Harriet very sleepy. So
she undressed and climbed into her
little white crib and in three winks
she was far, far away in Dreamland.
So that is the end of the Fourth
Story about Harriet and what she did
on Monday.
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What Harriet did on Tuesday
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THIS IS THE FIFTH STORY ABOUT HARRIET
IT TELLS WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
When Harriet woke on Tuesday
morning it was not raining any more.
As soon as she saw the bright sun-
shine she hopped joyfully out of bed
and called to her mother: —
"We shan't have to stay in the
house all day to-day, shall we, Mum-
sey ? "
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ABOUT HARRIET
" No, indeed," said Mother; "and
that is very fortunate, for you and I
have ever so many errands to do this
morning."
So, as soon as breakfast was over,
the dishes washed and the beds made,
the postman and the janitor and the
iceman and the milkman attended to,
Harriet and her Mother started out
on their errands. Harriet carried her
beautiful pink sunshade which Aunt
Grace had given her. Mother carried
her shopping-bag in one hand and
that left her other hand free to hold
Harriet's when they crossed the streets
where automobiles and grocers' and
butchers' wagons went whizzing by.
It was not a long walk to the street
where the shops were. The errands
this morning were not downtown er-
rands to the great, huge department
stores. Harriet's Mother wanted gro-
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WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
ceries and meat and fruit, not dresses
and coats and shoes and furniture.
There was a long avenue which had
a row of all sorts of small shops down
each side of it, and a trolley ran through
the middle of the avenue.
Mother and Harriet stopped first
at Mr. O'Rourke's grocery store. As
soon as they went into the door, one
of the clerks named Jans Jorgensen
came forward to wait upon them.
Jans had very light hair and bright
red cheeks. Harriet liked him very
much, and he thought Harriet was
9'
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ABOUT HARRIET
the nicest little girl who came into
the store.
Mother ordered of Jans a dozen of
the freshest eggs, two pounds of Mr.
O'Rourke's best butter, a pound of
seedless raisins, and three and a half
pounds of sugar. She told Jans not to
have the things sent over to her house
until noon, because she did not ex-
pect to get home until then. As they
started to go away, Jans went to a
basket and chose the largest and pret-
tiest peach he could find to give to
Harriet. Harriet thanked him very
prettily, and Jans smiled a broad smile
to see his little friend so delighted.
Next Harriet and her Mother
stopped at Mr. Schlachter's meat mar-
ket. Mr. Schlachter was a great, big
man, tall and broad and fat. When
Harriet first saw him she was a very
little girl and he gave her a great
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WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
fright, though of course he did not
mean to do so. Mr. Schlachter had
stood behind his counter, with a great
sharp knife in one hand and the long
knife-sharpener in the other, and he
looked so big and his face was so red
that Harriet thought he was the ogre
whose picture was in her Jack-and-
the-Beanstalk story. She screamed
with fright and hid her face in her
Mother's skirts so that Mother did
not buy any meat that day, but she
took Harriet home at once. Then
Mother explained that Mr. Schlachter
was a good, kind man, with little girls
of his own who loved him, and that
there were n't really any ogres except
in story books. So now Harriet was
not afraid of Mr. Schlachter, but she
did not like him as well as Jans.
Perhaps she would have liked him
better if she had had a little dog or a
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ABOUT HARRIET
cat at home, because Mr. Schlachter
was very generous about feeding ani-
mals. Not far from his shop there was
a big stable where lived two spotted
coach dogs, — just like Peter Spots in
the book about "Fighting a Fire," —
and these dogs thought Mr. Schlachter
was the best kind of a friend. Harriet
often saw the dogs and patted them
when she went to the meat market.
Harriet's Mother ordered a chicken
and she told Mr. Schlachter also not
to send it till noon. Then they walked
on to the fruit store.
The fruit store belonged to a dark-
haired man who had come far across
the great ocean and a great sea from
the brave little country of Greece. In
fact, most of the people who sold
things along the avenue had come
from far-away countries. Father and
Mother always had a story for every-
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WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
thing, and Harriet had heard many
an old wonder tale that the fathers
and mothers of Mr. Sorakes's country
told to their little children. Perhaps
the reason why the shopkeepers liked
to wait upon Harriet's Mother was
because she was interested in their
countries and talked to them about
their far-away homes.
Mr. Sorakes's window always looked
as pretty as a flower garden. He
knew just how to arrange his dark-
red cherries and pale-yellow lemons,
his rosy-cheeked apples and huge
bunches of California grapes, his boxes
of dates and figs, his many-colored
jars of jelly, his walnuts and almonds
and berries, and — oh ! more deli-
cious things than Harriet could ever
count. She always stayed outside the
shop while Mother went inside and
she gazed into the great glass window
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ABOUT HARRIET
enjoying the colors and trying to name
the different kinds of things, but there
was always some new name to learn.
Mother ordered a box of straw-
berries and a dozen of lemons from
Mr. Sorakes, and then they went on
to their next stopping-place.
This was not a shop for selling
things to eat. It was a tiny little place
where an Italian cobbler mended shoes.
Mother had left a pair of her shoes
here a few days before for Mr. Sarra-
chino to put new soles and heels upon
them. Mr. Sarrachino gave Harriet a
bright smile and he bowed low to
Harriet's Mother. He was always a
very polite and cheerful man. He
had a whole row of dark-eyed little
boys and girls of his own who lived
in the rooms back of his shop. He
worked hard at his bench from early
morning till late at night, because
9 6
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WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
there were so many hungry mouths to
feed, but you never saw him cross or
surly. He was so proud to have his
boys and girls go to the fine public
schools and learn to be good Ameri-
cans that he did not care how hard
he worked to feed and clothe them.
Harriet's Mother gave most of Har-
riet's outgrown clothes to the Sarra-
chino babies, and at Christmas time
Harriet always filled a big stocking
full of toys and goodies for the family.
When they had inquired about the
latest baby, Mrs. Sarrachino was called
from the back room to show the little
fellow. She came in smiling, with lit-
tle Giuseppe in her arms, and Har-
riet's Mother praised the baby's mother
for keeping her baby so clean. It was
hard work to care for so many chil-
dren, but Mrs. Sarrachino was quick
to learn, and the school nurse had
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ABOUT HARRIET
told her how important it was to keep
house and children clean and to feed
the children properly; and their teach-
ers said that the bright-eyed little Sar-
rachinos were the cleanest little Italians
in the whole school.
After bidding good-bye to Mr. and
Mrs. Sarrachino, who stood bowing
and smiling till they had left the shop,
Harriet and her Mother walked along
the avenue quite a distance before they
came to Mother's next errand place.
..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
They stopped and looked into many
of the windows on the way. The
florists' windows were lovely, but not
so fine as they were in winter, because
in June many people have flowers'in
their own gardens, and in the winter
ladies go to more balls and to the
opera and they give dinner-parties, so
in winter the florists sell more flowers.
Harriet always liked the bakeshop
windows, but Mother seldom bought
anything from a bakery. She knew it
was better for little girls and school-
teacher fathers to eat home cooking,
and Mother was a fine cook. This
morning Harriet could hardly tear
herself away from the bakery window,
because there was a huge wedding
cake in the middle of it, and on top
of the white frosted cake was a wed-
ding party ! There was the tiny bride-
groom in a black coat, and there was
99
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ABOUT HARRIET
the bride with her long white veil, and
there was a candy wedding bell hung
above the bride and groom, and the
cake was gay with pink-and-white
candy flowers. Oh, it was a beautiful
sight I Harriet decided at once to
have a doll wedding some day at
home.
There were delicatessen shops, too,
on the avenue,' which Harriet liked.
You could buy a whole cooked meal
in one of these shops — a pot of baked
beans, or a roast of beef, slices of cold
ham, potato salad and other kinds of
salad, bread and butter and, pie and
pickles and cheese and doughnuts.
The windows made a person hungry
just to look at them, but Mother
hardly ever bought anything here,
either, except cream cheese.
Next they passed a cleaner's win-
dow. That means a place where peo-
, Google
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
pie take the kind of waists and dresses
and skirts that cannot be washed in a
tub of water, but which the cleaner
can make look almost as good as new
by some other ways of cleaning than
using soap and water. Even feathers
and gloves and satin slippers are made
to look fresh and new by these won-
derful people.
Harriet did not usually care to look
into the cleaner's window, because
grown people's clothes are n't very in-
teresting, but to-day she caught sight
of something that made her stop her
Mother and cry out: —
" Oh, Mother, see ! There 's a
Mother Goose dressing-gown almost
like the one Grandma made for me
when I was a little girl ! "
Sure enough, there was a little blue
kimono hanging in the window, and
on its collar and sleeves and down the
..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
front and around the hem of it were
lots of Mother Goose children — Lit-
tle Boy Blue with his horn, Miss Muf-
fett and her spider, Simple Simon, Jack
and Jill, and the rest.
Harriet was delighted, but her
Mother laughed and said : —
" Do you remember how you cried
the first night yqu saw your kimono
because Boy Blue's head was cut off?
Grandma had not noticed, when she
turned the hem, what happened to ■
Boy Blue's head, so I had to rip the
hem and restore his head before
you would wear the pretty dressing-
gown."
" Yes, I remember," said Harriet,
and she laughed a little, but then she
looked sober. Even though she was
now so big she did not like to think
of a picture Boy Blue without a head;
and she looked very carefully at the
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ABOUT HARRIET
dressing-gown in the window and was
glad to see that all the children on it
were quite whole.
Next Mother stopped at Mr. Levy's,
the tailor's, to ask him to send for a
suit of Father's that needed to be
mended and pressed. Mr. Levy made
new suits and coats and skirts, and
he could also mend and smooth out
wrinkled clothes till they looked al-
most like new ones.
There were only two more errands
to do. One was at the branch post-
office in the drug store, where Mother
bought stamps and postal cards. Har-
riet wanted some ice cream from the
soda fountain part of the drug store,
but Mother said No, not in the morn-
ing and so near lunch-time.
Last of all they went to a little
shop where the woman sold all sorts
of materials for doing pretty needle-
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WHAT SHE DID ON TUESDAY
work. There were embroidery silks
and needles and scissors; there were
embroidery patterns to stamp on towels
and napkins and tablecloths, on little
girls' white dresses and ladies' pretty
waists; there were knitting-needles and
worsted for making sweaters and scarfs
and bedroom slippers; and there were
lots of other things. During the win-
ters in the city Mother was too busy
for fancy work, but there were long
days in Maine when she had plenty
of time to knit as well as to go pic-
nicking and sailing and swimming;
so that this morning Mother bought
materials for making a white-and-blue
porch jacket for Aunt Maud.
At last all the errands were done
and Mother and Harriet went home.
After lunch Harriet was so tired that
she took quite a long nap. Then they
sat on a Parkway bench once more
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ABOUT HARRIET
until it was time for Father, and din-
ner, and then for story-telling.
Harriet's visit to Mr. Sarrachino's
shop made her think of the story of
a little Italian marionette named
" Pinocchio," so, although Father had
read it to her many, many times, she
called for it again, and once more
she and Father laughed and laughed
about the bad little wooden boy who,
after many funny adventures, decided
to be good and was then changed
into a really, truly, live boy.
And after hugs and kisses and good-
night prayers, Harriet sailed off to
Dreamland again.
So that is the end of the Fifth
Story about Harriet and what she did
on Tuesday.
..Google
What Harriet did on Wednesday
..Google
..Google
VI
THIS IS THE SIXTH STORY ABOUT HARRIET
IT TELLS WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
Almost before her eyes were open
on Wednesday morning Harriet called
out: —
" What are we going to do to-day,
Mother dear? "
And Mother answered : —
" Wait until you *ve eaten your
breakfast, honey, and then we'll see."
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ABOUT HARRIET
Harriet jumped out of bed very
quickly at that. She suspected that
something nice was going to happen
if she ate a good, hearty breakfast.
You see, Harriet was not often a
hungry little girl, and when she knew
that there was to be a picnic or some-
thing else very gay she was too ex-
cited to eat at all. So Mother did not
usually tell of any exciting plan until
after breakfast.
This morning Harriet resolved to
eat — oh, ever so much, so that Mother
would decide it was safe to do the
nice thing that she probably had in
her mind. So Harriet ate and ate till
Father joked her and poked her and
said he thought she would taste as
good, roasted, as a fat little stuffed
pig. And finally, as Harriet kept eat-
ing and eating, her Mother laughed
and said : —
..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
" There, there, dear ! You've eaten
enough to last until noon ! What do
you say to going downtown this morn-
ing, shopping, and eating our lunch in
Lerner's restaurant ? "
" Oh, goody, goody ! " shrieked
Harriet.
So Mother knew that that meant
Harriet liked the plan very much.
It did not take Mother and Har-
riet long after breakfast to get ready.
They liked to start early when they
were going shopping, so as to be in
the stores before crowds of people
came and made it hot and uncom-
fortable while they did their errands.
Harriet did not carry her pink sun-
shade to-day. Mother said it would
be in the way downtown, where there
were high stairs to climb and a great
many people on the streets to jostle
against them.
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
After a short walk down one street
and over another, they came to the
Elevated Railroad station. In Har-
riet's city the streets are so full of
wagons and trolleys and motor-cars,
and there are so many, many people
who must travel long distances from
their homes every day to get to their
offices and stores and schools, that the
men who make the railroads have to
build some of them up in the air and
some of them down under the ground !
Just think of that ! Under the ground
they dig a long, long tunnel and lay
the tracks through the tunnel, and
the trains go swiftly back and forth
in this long hole in the ground; and
when little boys and girls ride in these
underground cars and look out of the
windows they can't see anything ex-
cept the sides of the tunnel and the
lights flashing by — no shops or horses
..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
or people or trees or anything. The
railroad under the ground is called
the "Subway."
There is another kind of railroad
made of tracks and trains high up on
great strong bridges miles and miles
long through the streets. This is called
the " Elevated Railroad." People often
call it the "L." Harriet and her
Mother were going downtown on the
« L."
First they had to climb a long flight
of stairs. This was slow work for Har-
riet's short legs. When they got to
the top they stopped a minute to get
their breath again. Then Mother paid
the fare through a little opening in a
window where a woman or a man sits
all day and all night to collect fares.
Then the woman unlocked the turn-
stile and Mother passed through it,
but Harriet walked under a rail, be-
n 3
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ABOUT HARRIET
cause she was so little Mother did not
have to pay a fare for her.
Now they were out on the long
platform and soon the train came
rushing in and they got aboard. As
soon as all the passengers were in the
cars, the guards on the platforms at
the ends of each car slammed the
gates, to shut the people in; then one
guard after another reached up and
pulled a rope which rang a bell to
tell the motorman, "All right! Go
ahead ! " Then the train started.
Harriet climbed up on the seat and
kneeled with her face toward the
window so as to see everything they
passed as they flew along. It was such
fun to be up so high that you could
look into third-story windows of peo-
ple's houses or stores. Sometimes there
were little children looking out of
those high windows. Sometimes Har-
114
..Google
AT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
riet looked into a big room tilled with
men bent over sewing machines mak-
ing coats and trousers. Sometimes she
saw a room filled with girls at desks,
typewriting as fast as they could make
their fingers fly. Once Harriet caught
a glimpse down a side street of a roof
which some little children's father had
made into a nice outdoor playroom.
The roof had a fence around it, so
the babies could not fall off, and there
was an awning over the top, so it would
not be too hot; and the children had
their toys out there, and plants grow-
ing in boxes, and it was really a lovely
play place for little city children, but
of course not half as nice as the
country.
Presently the guard called out, " El-
lum and Dutton!" (He meant Elm
and Dutton Streets, but the guards
always said "Ellum.") This was the
"5
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
station near the large stores, so when
the train stopped and the guard opened
the gates, Harriet and her Mother
stepped out upon the platform. They
walked very slowly down the long
stairs and then they waited at the
curb for a chance to cross the
street.
It was a very busy street and a very
noisy one at this corner. Overhead
the Elevated trains every few minutes
made a great noise. In the middle of
the road the trolley cars ran so close
together that there was a continuous
"Clang! Clang I Clang I" of the mo-
tormen's gongs. There was a steady
stream of heavy wagons and automo-
biles rumbling and whizzing by. There
were people crowding down into the
Subway. No wonder there had to be
a mounted police at the corner to
keep the wagons and cars from get-
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..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
ting all snarled up and the people
from getting run over.
Harriet loved the mounted police.
Their horses were so beautiful and so
intelligent. The officers were so big
and handsome, their uniforms so splen-
did, and they sat so straight upon their
horses. They stood in the midst of the
roar and the rush and with one lift of
the hand they made all the drivers and
motormen stop their cars instantly to
let a little girl and her Mother pass in
safety across the street. When Har-
riet's fairy tales told about a mighty
king or emperor whose slightest wish
was instantly obeyed by his subjects,
she always thought of her beloved
mounted police.
When Harriet and Mother had
safely reached the other side of the
street, they found themselves almost
at the big front door of Lerner's store
117
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
where Mother always did most of her
shopping.
This morning they went first into
the shoe department. They sat down
on the slippery leather seat and
Mother bought for herself a pair of
low shoes having rubber soles and
heels. This is the best kind of shoe
to wear if you are going to climb
over slippery rocks in Maine. Har-
riet had to have a pair of "sneakers"
too.
Then they went down to the base-
ment of the store. This was an im-
mense place. You could buy trunks,
toys, kitchenware, bathroom supplies,
tools, lamps, china, dishes — it would
fill a book to tell all the things in Ler-
ner's basement.
Mother was buying supplies this
morning forthe bungalow: paper tow-
wooden plates for pic-
11S
..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
nics, cooking dishes for the kitchen,
and many other things.
All these supplies, with what Mother
would buy in other departments, would
be sent by Lerner's shipping depart-
ment up to a little town in Maine
where Captain Barber's steamboat
would get the supplies and carry them
over to the bungalow.
When Mother had finished shop-
ping in the basement they started to
go upstairs.
"Oh, Mother]" said Harriet, "please
let's ride up on the revolving stairs."
So they went to the place where one
could step on to what looked some-
thing like a narrow chain sidewalk,
which did not stay still, but which was
moving uphill all the time. And when
you stepped on this sidewalk, you did
not have to climb at all; you stood
still and the walk itself climbed. When
n 9
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
you got up to the main floor you
stepped off the funny stair, and there
youwere. Harrietlovedit. HerMother
would not let her ride down on this
revolving stair, for fear she might get
dizzy and fall.
Next Mother and Harriet got into
the big elevator and rode up to the
fourth floor to the furniture depart-
ment. Mother wanted to buy two big,
comfortable willow chairs for the bun-
galow living-room. While Mother was
making up her mind what to choose,
Harriet thought she would try to sit
in every chair in the furniture depart-
ment, but, dear me! It would have
taken her almost all day to do that,
Mr. Lerner had so many chairs to sell.
There were drawing-room chairs and
library chairs and dining-room chairs,
bedroom chairs, kitchen chairs, and
office chairs, leather chairs, satin-cush-
, Google
WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
ioned chairs, rocking-chairs, babies'
high chairs, red, brown, yellow, and
green chairs — and that is n't half the
kinds there were in that great huge
chair department! Harriet's kneeswere
all tired out with climbing by the time
Mother had decided on her chairs, and
when they came to their next stopping-
place Harriet was glad to sit still on
the stool by the counter while Mother
chose the flowered cretonne which was
to cover the cushions for her chairs.
In other departments they bought
middy blouses for Harriet and for her
Mother too, and thread and needles
and pins and writing paper and en-
velopes and stockings and other things
beside.
At last Mother said, "There, I'd
better stop, or Father won't have
money enough left to buy our tickets
to Maine I "
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
But of course Harriet knew that
Mother was joking. Father always said
they would go to Maine if they had
to go barefoot !
Now it was lunch-time, so, after
tidying up in the ladies' dressing-room,
they got into the big elevator again
and were carried up to Lerner's res-
taurant on the fifth floor. A great, big
room was filled with little tables cov-
ered with shining silver and pretty
dishes. There were many ladies and a
few gentlemen and some little chil-
dren at these tables. There were neat-
loo king waitresses flying here and there
bringing trays of food to the people.
Harriet and Mother found a seat
near a window. If you looked out of
the window the " L " seemed very far
below, and the people on the side-
walks looked very small.
Soon a pretty waitress brought a
..Google
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
card on which was printed the names
of all sorts of good things to eat.
Mother chose from this card Harriet's
favorite soup, then tomato and lettuce
salad, rolls and butter, milk for Har-
riet and tea for Mother — and straw-
berry ice cream for both !
Oh, but that lunch tasted good!
Harriet was just as hungry as if she
had n't stuffed herself at breakfast-time.
The pretty waitress smiled when Har-
riet gave a little squeal on seeing the
ice cream. There was n't one speck
of pink cream left on the plate when
Harriet had finished with it, you may
be sure.
After lunch Mother said, "If you 're
not too tired we might walk along
looking into the windows a little while
before we go home."
Of course Harriet was not too tired,
so they went out into the noisy street
124
..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
again. It was even more crowded than
it had been in the earlier part of the
morning, so many people during the
lunch hour were hurrying to their
eating-places. Suddenly Harriet heard
at a distance a furious "Clang! Clang!"
and the people exclaimed, « Fire ! "
and Harriet's Mother quickly drew her
into a doorway out of the crowd.
Then you should have seen that street !
The wagons and automobiles, quick
as a wink, drew themselves close to
the curbstone and stood still, the
trolley cars stopped running, people
who had been crossing the street flew
to the sidewalks, and in an instant a
fire engine dashed by and then came
another and another engine, and it was
perfectly wonderful to see them go so
fast through that crowded street and
not run over a single thing. Lots of the
people ran after the engines, to see the
125
.Google
ABOUT HARRIET
fire, but Harriet and her Mother kept
close in their place of safety, and pres-
ently the cars started again and every-
thing moved on as before the excite-
ment.
They walked by the " 5 and i o cent
store," a place Harriet loved, because
it was so 'easy to buy Christmas pres-
ents there for a great many people,
even if one were a little girl with not
much money to spend. They did not
go into this store to-day.
Next they passed a window all fixed
up to look like a camp. There was a
real tent with a flap open showing the
cot andcamp-chairandtrunkand other
furnishings inside. There were figures
of men and boys dressed in campers'
clothes, some of the figures cooking a
meal, others fishing, others chopping
kindlings for the fire. This window was
tolet people know that in this store you
126
..Google
WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
could buy fish poles and tents and fold-
ing stoves and axes and khaki trousers
and rainproof hats and everything a
camper could possibly need. Har-
riet gazed a long time at this win-
dow.
A little farther on she gave such a
shriek of delight that several people
127
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
on the sidewalk turned and smiled. It
was a florist's window that pleased
Harriet so much. In this window was
a Japanese garden, which looked so ex-
actly like the garden where Taro and
Take, the "Japanese Twins," lived,
that Harriet was too happy for words
in looking at it. There was a little wind-
ing stream with tiny curved bridges
crossing it, there were queer little tea-
houses on little islands, there were tiny
trees and tiny Japanese people stand-
ing in the garden, there were wee swans
on the water — oh, it was a beautiful
sight! Harriet drank it in with joy and
Mother let her stand almost as long as
she wished before saying: —
"Now, dear, I think we must go
home."
Harriet, clinging to her Mother's
hand walked along looking backward
at little Japan, and when they turned
128
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WHAT SHE DID ON WEDNESDAY
from a last look Harriet threw kisses
back, for love of Taro and Take.
When they got into the "L," Har-
riet was too tired to care to look out
of the windows and she was very will-
ing to take a long nap when they reached
home. After dinner she called for one
story out of the "Japanese Twins," and
then she was quite ready to be put into
her little crib, where she dropped off
to sleep before she had finished saying
her prayers.
So this is the end of the Sixth Story
about Harriet and what she did on
Wednesday.
..Google
..Google
What Harriet did on Thursday
..Google
..Google
VII
THIS IS THE SEVENTH STORY ABOUT HARRIET
IT TELLS WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
I hate dreadfully to tell you this
story about Harriet, because I shall
have to tell that on this day she was
a very naughty little girl — oh, very
naughty, indeed!
It began with her being waked up
before she had had a long enough
sleep. James, the janitor down in the
"33
..Google
ABOUT HARRIET
basement, blew a very shrill whistle
on the speaking-tube.
Harriet awoke with a start. She
began to cry. First it was a frightened
cry, and Mother sympathized with
her, but soon it changed to a cross
cry.
While Mother was washing her face,
Harriet cried again because she said
Mother got soap in her eyes. Dear
Mother answered gently: —
"There is no soap in your eyes,
dear. I have n't put a bit of soap on
the wash cloth yet."
But Harriet insisted that her eyes
smarted from soap.
Then, when Mother combed her
hair, softly and carefully, Harriet cried
again and said Mother was pulling
awfully.
Mother took no notice because she
knew Harriet was very tired, and she
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
hoped her little girl would feel better
after breakfast.
But at the breakfast table there was
more trouble. First Harriet acciden-
tally tipped over her glass of milk.
The milk made a great pool on the
clean tablecloth and ran down on
Harriet's pinafore and the dining-
room rug.
After Mother had dried the wet
things and had taken her seat at the
table again, Harriet dropped her por-
ridge spoon on the carpet. Then
Mother said : —
" Dearie, be careful ! You are very
careless this morning."
And Harriet answered crossly, « I
don't care I "
Then Father looked sternly at her
and said, " Harriet! "
That made Harriet sit up and be-
have herself for a while, because Father
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ABOUT HARRIET
had a way of saying « Harriet ! " or
"John I" or "Sam!" or any other
name that would make even a big
High-School boy shake in his shoes if
he'd been bad.
When Father went off to school
Harriet did not run to the window to
wave good-bye to him.
The next disagreeable thing she did
was to get all her playthings out and
strew them over the floor, leaving
many of them near the door so that
Mother had difficulty getting in and
out of the room.
Finally Mother said: —
" Your toys are in my way here,
Harriet. Please move them away from
the door."
Then Harriet answered, quite
loudly : —
" I won't !! "
Yes, she actually did say that
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
naughty thing to her dear, kind
Mother! Would you believe a nice
little girl could say such a thing to
her Mother? But Harriet really did!
Mother was so astonished that she
could hardly believe her ears. Then
she said : —
"Why, Harriet Ames Robertson!
What is the matter with you this morn-
ing ? What has happened to my little
daughter ? "
Harriet answered promptly: —
" I got up on the wrong side of the
bed this morning, like the Cock and
the Mouse ! "
I must tell you what Harriet meant.
Not long before she had received a
present of a little book called " The
Cock and the Mouse and the Little
Red Hen." The book had many droll
pictures in it, and the story, Harriet
thought, was perfectly delightful. It
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ABOUT HARRIET
told about a Cock and a Mouse and
a Little Red Hen who lived in a little
white house on a hill. One morning
the Cock and the Mouse were very
naughty and the good Little Red Hen
had lots of trouble with them. Finally
a bad Fox got into the house and car-
ried away in his bag the Cock and the
Mouse and the Little Red Hen. Then
the Cock and the Mouse were sorry
they had been so bad ; and the Little
Red Hen got them all safely out of
the bag, and after that the Cock and
the Mouse were as good as gold.
The story had explained that the
Cock and the Mouse got up on the
wrong side of the bed that morning
and that was the reason they were so
cross.
So Harriet thought she could ex-
plain her naughtiness to her Mother
by saying the same thing,
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
But Mother answered: —
"Oho! So that is what's the mat-
ter ! Very well, then, I shall be the Fox
and shall put you into my great bag
until you decide to be a good little girl
again."
Harriet looked a good deal inter-
ested and a little bit scared as Mother
got the clothes-basket, lifted Harriet
in to it, and then covered her with news-
papers, saying: —
" Now, when you are ready to be as
good as the Little Red Hen you may
snip your way out of the bag."
At first Harriet thought this was fun.
Then she began thinking how bad the
Cockand the Mousehadbeen,andhow
sorry they had felt when they were shut
up in the bag, and she began to feel
sorry too. Presently she cried a little,
not a cross cry but a sorry cry, and she
called out: —
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ABOUT HARRIET
"Now I'm good, Mother deariel"
And Mother said, "Very well, Little
Red Hen. Get out your scissors and
snip a hole in the bag."
So Harriet made believe her fin-
gers were scissors, and she made a
hole in the newspapers, and jumped
out of the basket, and ran to her
Mother, her face all smiles, exclaim-
ing:—
« Now I 'm good, Mother, now
I 'm good I"
" Well, I 'm very thankful to hear
■ it," said Mother as she kissed her lit-
tle daughter.
Harriet played quietly on the
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
floor for a time while her mother
sewed.
Presently Harriet said : —
" Mother, I think I like stories of
naughty people better than stories of
good people."
Mother's face was bent over her
sewing as she answered : —
" 1 have often noticed that, my
dear."
"I think Daddy does, too, Mum-
sey," said Harriet. " He always laughs
like anything at Pinocchio and the
Elephant's Child and Brer Rabbit
when they are naughty."
" But Pinocchio and the Elephant's
Child were severely punished for their
naughtiness and they reformed and
became good," said Mother.
" But Brer Rabbit never was good,"
said Harriet; "and Daddy likes him
the best of all."
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ABOUT HARRIET
Mother did not reply. Soon Har-
riet said again : —
« Daddy was a naughty boy him-
self when he was little."
" How do you know that ? " asked
Mother.
" I heard him tell Uncle Ned how
he brought a calf into school one day,
and Uncle Ned and Daddy laughed
hard," said Harriet.
" But Father is very good now,"
said Mother.
"Well, he had lots of fun first,"
answered Harriet.
Mother hastily got up and went out
to the kitchen to see to her cooking.
All the morning H arriet was as good
as possible. At the lunch table she was
most polite and careful, and after her
nap, you would never have believed
that Harriet's sunny face belonged to
the same little girl as the one who had
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
cried so much and been so cross in the
morning'.
After Harriet's "forty winks" —
that's what she called her little nap
— she and Mother put on their fresh
afternoon dresses and ribbons ready to
go out in the sunshine.
"Where are we going this afternoon,
Mother?" asked Harriet.
"We will go to the library first,"
said Mother, "and then perhaps we'll
stop and see Billy."
"Oh, goody!" squealed Harriet.
So they walked down their quiet
little street, and then along the noisy
avenue of shops, and then down an-
other quiet street to the nearest branch
library. They walked up the steps into
the big front door of the library, and
Mother put her books down on the
counter of the desk where a young lady
stamped Mother's card to show it was
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ABOUT HARRIET
all right for her to go and get some other
books. They walked around back of
the desk and into the children's room,
and Mother left her little daughter in
the children's room while she went off
to the grown people's shelves to find
books for herself.
"What kind of a book would you
like to-day, Harriet?" asked Miss
Graham, the children's librarian.
"I want a big book, with light-
houses and whales in it," answered
Harriet promptly.
"Very well, 1 think I can find you
one," said Miss Graham.
But all the sea books in the chil-
dren's room had been taken out by
the other children, so Miss Graham
went to the grown people's depart-
ment, and presently came back bring-
ing a large book which she put down
on the table in front of Harriet.
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
" Don't try to lift this yourself,
honey, or you may drop it and break
it," said Miss Graham.
" No ; I '11 be very careful," said
Harriet.
You see she was still being as polite
as the Little Red Hen !
Harriet enjoyed the sea pictures so
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ABOUT HARRIET
much that she was not ready to go
when Mother came for her.
" Oh, Mother, may 1 take this book
home ? " she begged.
" Not this afternoon, dear, it is so
heavy," said Mother. « I '11 tell you
what we'll do. We will take its name
and get Daddy to bring it home the
next time he comes to the library."
Harriet's lips were getting ready to
pout, but she suddenly thought that
she was being the good Little Red
Hen, so she made her lips look pleas-
ant and said very sweetly: —
"All right, Mother dear."
Now they walked back up the li-
brary street for two long blocks. All
the houses on this street looked ex-
actly alike. They all had high stone
steps up to the front doors. These
were not apartment houses, but sin-
gle-family houses, high and narrow.
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
Each house had a dining-room and
kitchen in the basement, big parlors
on the next floor, and bedrooms on
the floors above.
Harriet and her Mother stopped
at the house with number 668 on its
front door. They rang the doorbell
and soon heard small feet clattering
along the hall. Then the door was
opened by a little girl nine years old.
« Oh, Harriet ! " cried the little girl;
"I'm so glad to see you."
The little girl, whose name was
Frances, hugged and kissed Harriet
and her Mother, then led them into
the parlor, saying: —
"I'll go and tell Mother you are
here, Mrs. Robertson."
"Is Billy awake?" asked Harriet,
as Frances turned to go up-stairs.
" No,but he will be before long," said
Frances. "We'll have time to show
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ABOUT HARRIET
you our tent out in the yard before
he wakes up."
Soon Frances's Mother came down-
stairs and greeted Harriet and her
Mother. Then the two little girls went
down into the tiny yard at the back
of the house and there was the nicest
little tent that ever you saw. Frances's
big brother Arthur had set it up for
his little sisters Frances and Margaret.
This afternoon two little neighbors,
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WHAT SHE DID ON THURSDAY
Priscilla and Betty, were playing with
Frances and Margaret, and they were
just getting ready for afternoon tea
when Harriet and Frances arrived.
All the children were glad to see
Harriet. The ten twasjust large enough
to allow the five little girls to squeeze
into it, and oh! how good the "cam-
bric tea" tasted from the tiny pink rose-
bud cups and the wee pewter spoons!
Aftera while Frances's Mothercame
to the window and called: —
"Girls, Billy is awake. Do you want
to see him?"
Indeed, they did want to see Billy.
They hastily left the tea-party, not
stopping to wash the dishes, and hur-
ried up to the parlor.
There was Baby Billy on Harriet's
Mother's lap; and when the little girls
flocked around him he laughed and
crowed with delight, clapping his dim-
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ABOUT HARRIET
pled hands and playing peek-a-boo and
doing all his pretty tricks. He was the
jolliest and friendliest baby you can
imagine, and his sisters thought there
never were such golden curls and such
blue eyes and such dimples on any
baby as on their Billy Boy.
It was very hard for both Harriet
and her Mother to leave the lovely
baby and all the nice people at Frances's
house, but Mother promised they would
come again soon and next time they
would stay longer. So after hugs and
kisses, Harriet started down the long
stonestepswithherMother. Sheturned
to wave to the little girls until she
got down to the corner of the street;
and there, because it was getting late,
Mother and Harriet took the trolley
car home to Daddy and dinner.
After dinner Harriet begged her
Mother and Daddy to play the Cock
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ABOUT HARRIET
and the Mouse and the Little Red
Hen. Mother was the Mouse and Har-
riet was the good Little Red Hen.
Daddy had to be first the Cock, then
the bad Fox, then the Cock again.
Daddy was such a rude Cock and such
a fierce Fox, and Mother was such a
naughty Mouse that Harriet, the Lit-
tle Red Hen, privately resolved that
she would never again be so bad as she
had been that morning before she
changed to the Little Red Hen.
And I hope she remembered her
resolve, always, don't you ?
And this is the end of the Seventh
Story about Harriet and what she did
on Thursday.
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